A Lupus Widower Laments to Friends

So many people have had comments like, "I had no idea Susan was so sick."
That was because Susan did not want anybody to know.

Because lupus is such a crafty disease and flies under the general public's
radar, this is a good opportunity to clear things up.

Lupus is an autoimmune disease, not an infectious disease like HIV. People
with lupus have an overactive immune system. The body's defenses actually attack
healthy tissue. This has been happening to Susan for 30 years or more.

She was diagnosed around 1990, but she had symptoms way before then.
Originally, the disease would manifest itself as flu-like symptoms for about
three weeks out of every three months, with fatigue extending a month after
every flare-up.

In 2000, lupus attacked her central nervous system and involved her brain.
The original result of this new development was pain. From late in January 2000
until the day before she died, she was in pain. On the scale of 1 to 10, there
was no day that she didn't feel pain on an 8 to 10 level. (With 10 being
all-encompassing.)